Food access still a problem

Abby Zee, with Riverbend Gardens, packed fresh corn for customers at the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sept. 10, 2011. The city is working to ensure access to fresh food. IAN KUCERAK/EDMONTON SUN/QMI AGENCY

The city is still fighting for food access in neighbourhoods most affected by so-called “grocery deserts.”

At Wednesday’s committee meeting, council received a requested report highlighting neighbourhoods most affected by age-old restrictive covenants on grocery retailers.

The covenants — long-term legal agreements put in place by the business’ former occupants — prevent other large-scale grocers from moving into the buildings down the line. And now, those covenants mean some residents have a long walk to their nearest grocery store.

“There have been a series of reports about this, it’s been a concern in Edmonton for some time,” said Mary-Ann McConnell-Boehm, director of sustainable development with the city’s urban planning branch. “We have now identified three neighbourhoods with the most restrictive access to food.”

Those neighbourhoods, she says, are Bellevedere — where a Safeway sold in 1998 has been an auto parts shop since, Highlands — where a restricted covenant is currently held by a former Safeway site and the hardest-hit neighbourhood — Lansdowne.

While Lansdowne, in south-central Edmonton, may not be the only area facing a retailer shortage due to these covenants, council agreed it’s facing the toughest struggle.

“In a case like Lansdowne, where there is no alternative because of the historic subdivision pattern, that really restricts any opportunity in the neighbourhood to develop food retailers,” said Coun. Don Iveson, adding the city is searching for a way to resolve the issues surrounding the covenants, or identify other options.

McConnell-Boehm, who addressed council Wednesday in regards to alternative food resources for the afflicted areas, says Lansdowne is particularly isolated and has a total of three neighbourhoods affected.

“We are still encouraging the landowners and Safeway to discuss the situation,” she said. “And we are undertaking a council initiative for that’s a food and agriculture strategy and there might be something to address the issue of food access.”

This isn’t the first time council has tried to fight restrictive covenants placed on local grocers.

In 2007, Mayor Stephen Mandel penned a letter to the province asking that a 10-year limit be placed on covenants.